A Systematic Review of Nurse–Patient Communication Status in Palliative Care and its Affecting Factors

Background: Investigating the status of nurse–patient communication in Palliative Care (PC) and understanding the factors affecting it helps to provide effective patient-centered care and optimize care strategies in PC settings. Therefore, this review was conducted with the aim of determining the status of nurse–patient communication in PC and factors affecting it. Materials and Methods: This systematic search was conducted in both Iranian and international databases, including Scientific Information Database (SID), Magiran, Scopus, Web of Science (WOS), Public Medical Database (PubMed), and ProQuest, using keywords: “Palliative Care” AND “Communication” AND “Nurses” to find related articles published until 2024. Inclusion criteria for the articles included original studies whose results focus on nurse–patient communication in PC. Results: Nurses do not communicate comfortably and effectively with patients in the PC setting, especially in conversations related to advanced care plans, end-of-life care, and prognosis. This communication is influenced by factors such as trust issue between patient and nurse, individual preparation of nurse and patient, effective collaboration between nurses and physicians, the nurse’s skill in being a good listener and establishing empathetic interaction with patient, and allocation of sufficient time for nurse–patient communication. The use of structured communication models, such as Sage and Thyme, Comfort, can help nurses to be a more effective communicator. Conclusions: The results of present study showed that nurses do not have effective conversations with patients in the context of PC. Therefore, in order to improve nurses’ communication skills, training programs are suggested to be designed and implemented in accordance with the identified needs of nurses in relation to difficult conversations with patients.